28 Days of Connection: Maryse Godet Copans

I am hungry for life and all its offerings: books, movies, spiritual quests, family, love, even cold French fries as long as they’re lightly salted; then I get full and need some alone time to digest it all and prepare for my next feast.

I am organized when I plan my perfect day with writing time, phone calls, appointments, errands and all. Then I’m distracted by the first Tweet I receive; it invariably means that the next hour will be spent in front of the computer and that I will have to rip my list to shreds.

I’m cautious when I talk to my friends about my quest for meaning. I’m bold too. I want to taste the sweet nectar of creativity. I want a different kind of life to swell inside me. I want to bring it into the world and watch it grow with pride and tenderness.

I’m a Brussels sprout who was raised speaking French and fell in love with English at the tender age of 13; I’m an American growing strong roots in the fertile land of the free.

I’m on a healing journey from anxiety and a head injury and exploring the many paths to joy and fulfillment. I’m discovering life’s countless blessings I’m and patiently growing into my true nature.

I recently connected with Maryse when she chose to join the Facets community – I am enjoying getting to know her through her presence in the Facets energetic intention circle. It feels like Maryse and I practice presence in similar ways – we both hold the intention of centering into peace and living infinite possibility. A lot of what Maryse shares affirms my own path and invites me to explore depth and range *because* I know Maryse is experimenting with technique and opening to *magic*, that inspires me to do the same. Far greater to me than any message in a book are *real-life* examples of “how to live this” – my heart soars within this connection. (Sure, you may tell me of what you have read but what I really want to know is how you are applying it, so I may turn that inward and see how I might apply it as well.)

I enjoy Maryse’s writing style and I know her insights will resonate well with you, so I asked her to participate in this series and she readily agreed. This is yet another reminder to me that heart-connections can happen with ease and joy – for I wouldn’t know Maryse had she not chosen to respond to an article of mine and had I not then invited her to join in the energetic circle.

(This is also an example of “how” I connect, even within business. My goal is not to merely “garner numbers”, it is truly to create a community of energetic resonance – so that we might walk different paths, but we each feel we are walking together.)

I call this my “heart-tree” – can you see the heart? – Joy

Here are Maryse’s answers:

1. What is your definition of love?

Love is the enduring and ever gentle energy of all that is divinely good, both within us and throughout the universe.

2. What does it feel like when you are connected with love?

When I’m connected to love I feel nourished and complete. All my empty nooks and crannies are soothed and filled with a sense of rightness and wonder. It’s a sweet feeling of coming home, of belonging.With every beat, my broken heart rekindles hope, joy, and infinite possibilities.

3. In your opinion, why would one choose to close to love? From that closed space, what is one practice or step a person could take to open to love again?

We close to love because we do not understand what it truly is. We deem it unstable and unsafe because we’ve been disappointed, hurt, and/or betrayed by it. We blame its absence or flimsiness for our unhappiness.

And yet, when we open ourselves to love as an unconditional force for acceptance and growth, we are gifted with a brand new kind of power: a peaceful wave of trust and joy that colors our reality with new opportunities and less beaten paths.

The first step to open up to unconditional love is to be aware of its existence and of our disconnection from it. It sounds obvious, but most people do go through life with no awareness whatsoever that there’s another, richer way to live.

The simple affirmation, “I’m willing to open up to love”, is an excellent starting point. It takes one away from victimhood and into inspired action. From there, be willing to look for and receive love as it shows up in your life (anything that gives you pleasure and meaning) and to bestow it upon yourself (what can I do today to feel pleasure and meaning in my life?).

4. How do you choose to cultivate love?

I cultivate love by reminding myself daily to show up in the world with kindness, gentleness, and acceptance. I pay attention to the words I think, speak, and write. And when I lose my way, I practice loving myself unconditionally by taking a step back, giving myself time to process what is asking to be felt, and trusting that I will find my way back to the light.

5. May you share an experience of receiving unconditional love?

To be honest, I had no idea what unconditional love was until I had my children. The nature of that love is selfless in the sense that I choose to nurture and guide them while resolving the issues that come up for me so they don’t have to do it later. In short, I don’t press my own agenda on them. I choose to practice being a place of unconditional support, safety, and love.

Who is a place of unconditional support, safety, and love for me? Various people at various times: my husband who allows me to honor my choice to be a stay-at-home mom and to explore the call to write and inspire, my friends who accept me as I am and never fail to encourage and cheer me on, or the nice man in the grocery store who lets me go ahead of him because I’m only buying a few apples.

And I’ve learned over the last few years how to be my own source of love, support, and safety. When I listen to my needs and have them met; when I see myself as worthy and important just as I am; when I listen to my intuition and make the choices that are right for me. That’s all unconditional love.

6. What would you like us to know about love?

Love is the key that opens doors one could not even imagine were there.

I was raised to believe that being loving was a weakness. Determination and hard work were the sure ways to achieve my goals; love was a nice thing on the side if I was lucky. Today I see love as the ultimate fuel. My inner engine collapsed under the pressure of stress and the need to perform but now, after a much needed tune up, it’s humming again with love pouring in from all sides.

When I move from a place of love for myself, others, and for Life as a whole, my world, with all its pain and challenges and desires, is transformed by gratitude and joy. And that, in turn, brings in people and opportunities that help me grow into even more gratitude and joy.

Love is a miracle unfolding.

Maryse Godet Copans is a translator by trade and life lover at heart. She’s a stay-at-home mom and writer on a journey of self-discovery and increased awareness. When she’s not learning or creating, she savors life in the New York home she shares with her husband and two children. You can meet her online at www.bluamaryllis.wordpress.com.

Thank you, Maryse!

Dear Reader, Maryse mentions a practice of sharing unconditional love with her self – which is something I have only recently begun to learn and explore in my own journey. May you share, do you turn unconditional love inward? And if so, what practice do you use and/or how do you express this unconditional love toward self? (when you share, you inspire)

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How wonderful to be part of this intentions circle Maryse. I know that the energy from this group will heal all of its members. I’ve been part of groups like this, and miracles become an everyday occurence when more than 1 person’s energy is interconnected. Beautiful things will happen to you! This interview is a wonderful reminder on how to keep Love in your life. How to gently coax it back. Wise words. And I know you live this. many blessings!

I love this affirmation *miracles become an everyday occurrence when more than 1 person’s energy is interconnected.* It is a joy to learn to live in a way that miracles are noticed and celebrated daily – and to share that within community is pure bliss.

I would love to hear of an experience from your life in which you drew to you/felt the presence of a miracle.

What a ‘love’-ly read ;-). I particularly like Maryse’s response to how she cultivates love. It’s easy to forget how important it is to love ourselves unconditionally and indeed, not always easy to do when we’re having a tough day or going through a difficult time.

Thank you, mummyzen and Jean! Yes, don’t worry, I very much go with the flow these days. I still use lists too as I tend to be very organized. But I discard them easily if something else feel better in the moment. Have a love-ly day! ?

Thank you, Mummy Zen, for stopping in to support Maryse and to share an affirmation! Learning to unconditionally love myself as generously and graciously as I do others has been a very new step for me, even on “good flow days”. I love learning from others guidance and perspective and am glad to know I am not “alone” in walking these steps!

Hi Joy, thanks for giving me a chance to get to know Maryse better! And Maryse, you scared me there for a second talking about your daily list and …….well, I thought that you were going to talk about how you used that to have an efficient day! Whew! So glad to hear that the first tweet distracted you (welcome to the distraction club) and you spent several hours after that off your list and on the computer! My kind of woman! As an inner explorer, you will have intentions (big ones!) but a daily list that is rigidly obeyed, will not get you there! I am really enjoying getting to know you through Facets and I learn about love from you with nearly every post because that is what you are all about and Joy is all about and the other wonderful people there are all about. Thanks, Joy and Maryse!

This might surprise you, Jean, because it surprises me and I am the one doing it *grin*. I practice unfolding, so I can’t explain to you “how this works” but…I have two accountability partners and we share daily “to-do lists” with each other. Now, on my list I often have items such as drink water, get fresh air (especially on days I am intentionally moving into expansion or newness) and I often also take an “unfolding day” – which took a lot of courage to share with these partners. What I know about this list is it organizes thoughts on paper instead of in my head *and* I celebrate each step I do take/item I cross off, instead of judging myself for what I hadn’t done. I don’t feel pressure to “do it all” – I just know that each item I do complete is one step I might not have taken had I not had this list or practice.

I do greatly enjoy our Facets Energetic Intention Circle forum – learning about the different ways we each practice has enriched my own practice daily. *You*, too, are all about love and I appreciate all that you share and reflect!

Well, Joy and Maryse, I have” to do” lists all over my counters but they are not as growth- oriented as yours, Joy :) Mine are of appointments and students coming, more like the things of daily life that I have to do, not things I really find exciting, I never trust my aging brain (which does a lot of day dreaming, always has) to think of the practical, left brained stuff that is SO forgettable. :)

Maryse, I love your response about how you feel when you are connected to love: “It’s a sweet feeling of coming home, of belonging.” So true. I think that it is often hard to discern when we are connected to love because so many other conflicting emotions jostle us. I’m going to remember what you said and look for it!

So many people wish to experience the feeling of *belonging*; when we understand we can choose to center into that feeling internally, with love, the feeling of “not belonging” dissipates, naturally. In my journey, there had been physical and emotional pain, so I hadn’t wished to “come home” into my body, until I began healing. I also didn’t know what love felt like until I chose to “come home”.

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